C. Yoido church is not typical of the size church to be found in Seoul, as cell church expert Ralph Neighbor observes:
Seoul’s skyline after dark is filled with neon crosses, mounted on the tops of buildings where a church exists. There are literally hundreds of them! A Presbyterian pastor said to me, “Most of those crosses mark small churches with fewer than fifty members. They never seem to grow beyond that figure.” Those who seek to discount the amazing growth of the cell group churches in Korea must understand not all their churches are growing at the same rate. The difference is quite clear: when all the believers are equipped and involved in ministry, there is a radical difference between them and the traditional churches nearby.[1]
As in the United States, the typical size of a church in Korea is fifty or less, in spite of the demonstrated reality that churches are able to grow much larger in that context.
QUOTE [1]
NOTE
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
RESOURCES
[1] The quote is a selection from David O. Kueker’s Fuller Seminary Doctor of Ministry project submitted in September, 2007, entitled Diagnosis, Dialogue, and Decision: A Threefold Process of Revitalization For the Illinois Great Rivers Conference.
It is shared here in recognition of its 12th Anniversary along with comments to update and provide perspective on the material. The original project was a Training Manual/Study Guide of three Seminars supported by three chapters of research and an Introduction. The material is available for download at www.disciplewalk.com/Resources.html. In 2009 it was provided for purchase as a softcover book entitled Designing Discipleship Systems: Christian Disciple Making For Any Size Church, Any Theology through CreateSpace.com.
[2][3] [4][5] [6][7] [8]
All Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
[1]Ralph W. Neighbor, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here? A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church, 10th Anniversary ed. (Houston: Touch Publications, 1990), 41. Emphasis in italics in the original. When Neighbor speaks of all the members equipped and involved in ministry, he is primarily referring to the ministry of the laity using spiritual gifts in, within and through the structure provided by the cells of a cell church. In this way ministry is always done in the context of a community providing accountability, supervision and support, in partnership with others and within relationships extended to others. The prevents the burnout of leaders so common in Program Base Design churches.